Cherbourg
lies at the northern tip of the Cotentin peninsula and is a major
French
naval port and cross channel ferry terminal in the département of
Manche. Tramways were introduced in 1896 and subsequently replaced by
buses. The earlier history of transport in the conurbation can be seen here.

In 1992, after
many years trading as Compagnie des Transports de Cherbourg - CTC, the company adopted Zéphir
Bus
as their operating name. In June 1996 the company and the urban
community jointly celebrated "100 ans de transports urbains
à
Cherbourg" (one hundred years of urban transport in Cherbourg),
publishing a celebratory book.

The company had become
part of the VIA-Transexel group but by 2003 their operations were
controlled by the Keolis group of transport companies. There
were 137 staff (including 100 drivers) and the fleet comprised 52
vehicles (6 articulated buses, 40 standard buses, 5 minibuses and 1
vehicle for persons with reduced mobility). The 2003 routes are similar
to those listed for 1999 with the addition of another taxibus route in
the southern suburbs from Centre Commercial (Auchan) through Village de
l'Église (La Glacerie) to Croix Luce. A modest
network of interurban
services from Cherbourg continued to be provided by Verney (Connex /
Véolia VTNI) group operator STN until September
2007,
when an enhanced network was introduced by the département of
Manche under the acronym manéo.

By Spring 2005 service 10
had been altered to a shuttle
service from Le Becquet connecting with bus 3 at Northeim for the
onward journey into Cherbourg. Similarly service 11 is now a
shuttle connecting with bus 5 at Breche du Bois and bus 12 from Urville
is now a taxi connecting with bus 5 at Dixmude. Another
taxibus runs twice on Monday to Friday from Centre Commercial Auchan La
Glacerie to Croix de Luce and the 'Ligne Alizé' bus runs every 30/45
minutes from the town centre and rail station to the Cité de la Mer leisure
complex at the Gare Maritime and the Multiplex cinema.
Additional taxi type services in autumn 2005 link the Polyclinique
to Équeurdreville Mairie on Monday to Friday afternoons and
a Thursday market service from Cherbourg Schuman to Vallée
de Quincampoix. These services are marketed as
Itineo and only operate when pre-booked, at latest
by 6pm the day before. The once busy workers services to and
from the naval arsenal and dockyard now similarly only operate on a
pre-booked basis.

In 2005 Zéphir Bus
operated 2 million kilometres
and
passengers made 5.7 million journeys. 133 staff were employed
of
whom 114 were drivers. By September 2008, when the network was
revised, there were 133 employees of which 102 were drivers.
The fleet totalled 54 vehicles, comprising 40 standard buses, 6
articulated buses, 5 buses of reduced width, 2 minibuses and 1 bus
adapted for persons with reduced mobility. 5,600,000 passengers
are transported each year and there are 400 bus stops served. At
this time (September 2008) the
town service network was
revised to reflect the growth of Cherbourg and the nearby towns.
The new network meant that 90% of the population would be within
300 metres or less of a bus stop. As well as the high frequency
'Metronome' services (lignes 1, 3/5) other regular routes linked to
the main residential areas (lignes 2, 4, 8). These were also supported
by 'Domino'
school special
services and 'Itinéo' routes which act as feeder services (some only
operate by pre-booking, others operating regularly). These were
the
2008 bus routes (there were no longer routes numbered 6 and 7,
Hainneville-Haut and Cité du Tôt being now served by a regular Itineo
service
from Dubost to Équeurdreville Terrasses):

Lignes 3 and 5
between Équeurdreville Terrasses and
Cherbourg Gare SNCF also operate as "Service
Métronome" on
the common sector, giving a combined 7/8 minutes frequency. Lignes 1, 3
and 5 have a modest all day Sunday service, whilst ligne 4 operates on
Sunday afternoon only.

In addition to the
continuing 2008 routes listed above a new
ligne 9 was introduced from September 2010, the first time this route
number had been
used. It runs peripherally through the southern suburbs, linking Hameau
Quévillon via Montmartre to the Centre Commercial Auchan La
Glacerie. With two to four departures a day it replaces the
former
Croix de Luce taxibus service. From the same area a new Itineo
service links Hameau Quévastre through Luce and Hameau Quévillon to
Cherbourg Schuman with three to five regular journeys a day.

The operation of the
network was contracted from 2008 to 2013 by the Communauté Urbaine de
Cherbourg through a DSP (Délégation de service public)
agreement to the operator Zephir Bus, part of the Kéolis group. Six
million euros a year support the operation. The contract with Kéolis
was renewed for another six years in September 2014. It is anticipated
that all vehicles will be low floor and accessible by 2015.

From
13th April 2015 a new
easier to understand and simpler network. No longer any variations to
routings but one definitive fixed route for each line throughout the
whole day. The routes will be simpified and extended to include areas
such as
Grismesnil-Monturbet (ligne 8), Belle-Jardinière / Plaine Mesline at
Équeurdreville-Hainneville (ligne 4) and la Motterie-Gendarmerie in
La Glacerie (ligne 9). Ligne 2 is extended eastwards to Cité Deslandes
and Fleming; lignes 3 and 4 exchange part of their routes at the
western end; ligne 9 is revised to run into Cherbourg town centre and a
new ligne 10 is created. Lignes 9 and 10 are operated principally by
taxi not bus.